This pandemic has been tough on all of us and everyone is trying to hold on to the light at the end of the tunnel, in whatever way they can so I’ll suggest you to cut out negative people (no one cares about your spotify wrap up type people) out of your life, if you still haven’t.
As someone who was part of the stats, I was a bit scared at first, not for me, but for someone else in the family, who was totally freaked out to say the least, who had a few underlying problems, who had their knowledge from Whatsapp university and other authentic sources as well to be honest; who was scared and felt isolated, being in one room the whole time, not seeing anyone else, who wasn’t wearing full PPE and mask. But we were luckier than most.
More than the disease, the people spreading misinformation and scaring people are the real issue and a menace to society.
*A physical copy was provided to me by the publishers. This review is in no way influenced by that fact. Thank you Pan Macmillan India.*
Name: The Pull of the Stars
Author: Emma Donoghue
Pages: 291
Publisher: Pan Macmillan India
In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city center, where expectant mothers who have come down with the terrible new Flu are quarantined together. Into Julia’s regimented world step two outsiders—Doctor Kathleen Lynn, on the run from the police, and a young volunteer helper, Bridie Sweeney.
In the darkness and intensity of this tiny ward, over three days, these women change each other’s lives in unexpected ways. They lose patients to this baffling pandemic, but they also shepherd new life into a fearful world. With tireless tenderness and humanity, carers and mothers alike somehow do their impossible work.
Buy it here or from your favourite Indie bookstore.
MY REVIEW
“What a peculiar job nursing was. Strangers to our patients but-by necessity-on the most intimate terms for a while. Then unlikely ever to see them again.”
TW: Mention of abuse, gory maternity details, death.
Set during the deadly 1918’s influenza, in the aftermath of WW-I, this novel documents the happenings in a maternity ward of a hospital in Dublin, over the span of 3 days.
Quite concurrent with our times, one can spot numerous similarities in wake of the current pandemic- the gigantic scale, the fear of the unknown, heavy fatalities which is sparing no one, the glaring cracks in our healthcare system and thinly stretched staff, the distracting media, downplaying the issues, inefficient governments, woe of the working class and a state of perpetual doom, with people burying their loved ones.
The book shines a light at the condition of women, the Suffragette movement, the bias against women, especially women doctors because of them not paying the “blood tax” like men, corruption in high places, role of religious institutions, the thankless jobs of nurses who are there all the time for the patients, at ground zero and the mental and physical condition of men who’ve returned from war. It was a beautiful paradox of people dying with new lives being ushered in in the same space.
The writing is simple, well researched and easy to read albeit a bit heavy and intense, which made me pause at times and put me in a slump as well. I felt like there was too much information, with scientific jargon taking most of the space which was of no particular interest to me and did nothing much in propelling the story forward. But if you’re someone who enjoys that (I’m looking at you Grey’s Anatomy fans), you’ll really enjoy this book. Also, this book is inspired by real events, with Dr. Kathleen Lynn being a real person. A historical fiction, with feminist undertones and LGBTQ+ rep, which can be read to understand our current times in relation to 1918.
I’m not a queasy person. Having a mother as a doctor, who often “regales” us with her days happenings and an interest in action films with blood and gore, I blanched at the descriptions more than I would’ve liked to and kept thinking, “I didn’t need that image in my head”.
Pro tip: Probably don’t listen to the audiobook bc of all the screaming of pregnant women which becomes quite realistic 🙊.
Until next time!
Kaleidoscopic Nerdy 